Perdido 03

Monday, January 13, 2014

NY Post: De Blasio Picking Up Where Bloomberg Left Off On Court Cases

Mayor de Blasio is tossing his “tale of two cities’’ mantra out the
window this week, as his Law Department begins defending two hallmarks
of the Bloomberg legacy in court.

One case involves park activists who first sued the city in 2008,
alleging that an upscale restaurant concession serving $18 omelets in
Union Square would violate rules about profit-making ventures in public
space.

A lower-court judge ruled that the eatery represented “conspicuous consumption” in an era of “austerity.”

But a higher court overturned that decision, backing the opening of
Chef Driven Market, to be run by the owners of the well-known 5 Napkin
Burger chain.

The activists have now taken their case to the state’s highest court,
where arguments are to be heard Tuesday. A source in the Law
Department, which argues cases on behalf of the mayor, said the city
would continue to oppose the suit.

The source added that de Blasio also would not change direction in a second case, either — over the Taxi of Tomorrow.

That 2013 case, set for arguments in the Appellate Division on
Tuesday, pits taxi drivers against the city over its mandate to replace
yellow cabs with futuristic Nissan NV200s.

The drivers say the order gives Nissan a monopoly and would hurt them
financially. The city is appealing an earlier lower-court ruling
against it.

By picking up Mike Bloomberg’s mantle in both cases, de Blasio is going against his political and fund-raising allies.

Plaintiffs in the first case include four politicians who endorsed de
Blasio — Assembly members Richard Gottfried and Deborah Glick, and
state Sens. Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman — who argue that the restaurant
will come at the expense of play space for kids.

The pols were mum when asked to comment on their new adversary.

The second suit pits the city against one of the mayor’s biggest
fund-raisers, taxi-fleet boss Gene Freidman. A rep for the usually
hard-charging Freidman’s Greater New York Taxi Association issued a
conciliatory statement, saying, “It is a shame that the new mayor had to
inherit a failed and poorly thought-out matter from the old
administration.”

De Blasio already screwing groups who backed him in the campaign and continuing to perpetuate Bloomberg's policies.